Wake The Darkness
by Jewel Insert Witty Name Here
Summary: Following Voldemort's final demise, Draco and Hermione marry as a favor to Dumbledore. The marriage is anything by peaceful. (I promise that there's a much better summary inside! FFN doesn't allow enough space here for a decent summary.) Revised Version!
1. Revised Version Up!

  


==========  
**Wake The Darkness**  
By Jewel  
A Harry Potter Fanfiction.  
_Revised Version_.  
==========  
  
First of all, I want to thank everyone who took the time to read "Wake The Darkness." I'm really sorry about having to take down the other chapters, but I didn't want to start a new story file and risk losing the reviews.   
  
Thanks to everyone for being so nice about the revisions. I'm only trying to make the story better for you guys. For one thing, it's now going to be in chronological order to minimize any confusion.   
  
Lots of thanks and hugs to everyone who e-mailed me, or left a review. They really mean a lot to me. And if you really want to see read the old chapters, they're still available at my website. For some reason FFN isn't letting me link here anymore, so just check in my profile for a link to the old story.  
  
Okay, so with all that rambling, the first two chapters have been reposted with the revisions. And I do suggest rereading them both because there have been some changes, especially for the first chapter. For any other news, just keep checking the "author's notes" when I post new chapters.  
  


**Jewel  
  
[07.21.2004]**  



	2. Prologue

  


==========  
Wake The Darkness  
By Jewel  
A Harry Potter Fanfiction.  
Revised Version.  
========== 

Disclaimer: the talented JK Rowling created Harry Potter and its characters. They are copyrighted (©) to the rightful owners. No copyright infringement intended. 

Summary: Following Voldemort's final demise, Dumbledore asks Draco and Hermione to marry and prove to the wizarding world that not all purebloods and muggle-borns were set against each other. And although the two agree reluctantly to the match, the marriage is anything but peaceful. Both remember too clearly the events leading up to the union, and the unresolved factors that took a backseat to the defeat of the Dark Lord. 

Standard spoilers apply for books 1 through 5. Set in Seventh Year to Post-Hogwarts. 

: 

**Wake The Darkness  
Prologue**  
---------- 

[Post-Hogwarts: 5 months after graduation.] 

"This doesn't change anything," she said, her voice hoarse from screaming. First in anger and then in pleasure. 

"I did not dare to hope so," he replied, pinning her with an angry glare. Her words had brought reality crashing back around him, and he hated reality. Though in that instant he wasn't sure who he was more upset with, her or himself. 

She, however, knew exactly who to blame. Herself. Absolutely furious for having given in, she pushed at his broad shoulders. "Get off of me!" 

Silently he withdrew from her and rolled over onto his back, an arm flung across his eyes. 

"Well? Get dressed and get out!" She snarled, anxious to be left alone with her thoughts. 

"I must be demented," he muttered, groping in the dark for his clothing. "I shouldn't have come. I should have just stayed the hell away from you to being with." 

She pulled the sheets over herself just as a cold wind swept through the chamber. "I never asked you to come. And if you remember correctly, I never wanted any of this in the first place! I warned you, if you would deign to think back to a year ago, that complicating things would only breed trouble!" 

He paused in getting dressed, one arm in his shirt and the other bare but for a dark tattoo. "Your memory is flawed if you don't remember that you kissed me back then! But you're also right, you didn't ask me to come. You would rather die that ask for my help." 

"I don't need your help!" 

"He betrayed you! Betrayed everyone who trusted him! He almost got you killed! Almost cost us the war. And still you'd rather have him than me!" She recoiled at the fury and venom she heard in his voice. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but for once words failed her. Anything she could have said in her defense or in retaliation was lost when he continued. 

"You're horribly mistaken if you think I will let you go, Hermione." Without saying anything else he turned away from her and strode to the door. When he closed the door the resounding slam echoed through the silent room. 

She stared at the door for several long minutes before lying back in bed and looking out the window on the wall opposite the door. She was still contemplating what to do when the first streaks of purple heralded dawn. And by the time the sin was almost fully in the sky, she still didn't know what to do. 

Draco was her husband, and the one she loved in the darkest parts of her heart. But Ron had been her bestfriend and her first love. And if he was going to die at the end of the week, she wanted to see him. 

End of Prologue  
---------------------- 

AUTHOR'S NOTES:  
- I sincerely hope that this prologue isn't too different from the original one. The situation in this scene is still mostly the same with one minor (okay, okay, major) difference. But everything will be explained as the story goes on.  
- Music I listened to while typing this: "Take A Picture" by Filter. 

Jewel  
[7.20.2004]


	3. Part One

  


==========  
Wake The Darkness  
By Jewel  
A Harry Potter Fanfiction.  
Revised Version.  
========== 

Standard spoilers apply for books 1 through 5. Set in Seventh Year to Post-Hogwarts. 

:  
**Wake The Darkness  
Part One (1)**

[Post-Hogwarts: 5 months after graduation.] 

Draco paused when he saw her standing in his office. "Who let you in here?" 

"Your butler." 

"Ask him to show you out," Draco said curtly, sitting at his desk. 

She spun around to face him. "Don't you even want to know why I'm here?" 

"No." 

"Your mother wants to see you." 

"So you're playing the nursemaid these days. One would've thought you'd hear, Pansy, that I've been disowned. I have no mother." 

Pansy frowned. "This is serious, Draco. Your mother is wasting away. I know she'd feel better if you'd just visit her!" 

"That would require me setting foot on the Malfoy Mansion in Wiltshire. The last time I saw my mother I was assured the dragons would be set on me if I ever dared to step foot on the property while she lived there." 

"She was grieving! You father had just died! Don't you care that you'll never see your mother again?" Pansy's displeasure was clear. 

"My mother has made it clear she has no desire to see me again," Draco said coldly. "If I remember clearly, she said I was not her son because no child of hers would betray their heritage." 

"Your mother were angry! Understandably so!" 

"She told me to kill Hermione and save Voldemort and my father the trouble!" 

"Hermione is a mudblood," Pansy hissed angrily. "She should die." 

"Yes, she is muggle-born. She is also my wife, so if you're trying to get back into my good graces, Pansy, this is not the way to go about it. And if I were you, I would be careful with my words. There is still a Death Eater scare about, and you wouldn't want to give the impression that you sympathized with the Dark Lord." 

"Draco, you married into Harry Potter's inner circle! Your wife stood against the Dark Lord in everything. No one in the wizarding world can begin to fathom why you chose her! Why you threw your family's legacy back into their faces! What spell has she put over you?" 

"None thus far," replied a cool voice from the doorway. "But I can think of a few I'd like to put on you, Pansy dear." 

Pansy stiffened and turned to face Hermione. "Good day, Hermione. I trust you've been well." 

"I'll be much better once you leave," Hermione said sweetly in way of a reply. 

Pansy looked at Draco, who still sat serenely behind his desk. "You need to see your mother, Draco. Please don't break her heart by denying what may very well be her last request. I'll be seeing you, Hermione," she added as she breezed out of the office. 

...

Hermione stared at the empty doorway until she heard the front door close. Then she spun around to face Draco. "I don't like her." 

Draco arched a brow. "The house elves would've loyally kept her out, but you freed all our house elves and the incompetent butler doesn't know better." 

"Your abuse of sarcasm is not amusing." 

"So what did you want?" 

"I'm going to visit at the Burrow before I go to see Ron at Azkaban." 

"Why are you visiting the Weasleys?" 

Hermione smiled sweetly. "I intended to have a wild affair with all those sexy redheaded brothers." 

"An affair in the first year of our marriage would hardly speak well of the pureblood attitude towards muggles. And then you'd have to explain to McGonagall why you're flaunting Dumbledore's dying wish." 

"God and Dumbledore only knows why he didn't have you marry Ginny Weasley instead," Hermione muttered. 

Draco flashed a lecherous smile. "I've never particularly fancied redheads. And in recent years my taste has mysteriously moved on to muggle-born witches." 

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to leave. "I haven't the time for this, Ferret-Boy. I'll see you in a week." 

"So you intend to follow through with you plan to visit the Weasel? You're actually going to talk with him before he's turned over to the Dementors?" 

Pausing at the doorway, Hermione said over her shoulder, "He was my friend. I loved him. I trusted him. I intend to get some answers." 

When the door closed Draco let loose a string of foul curses. He even gave into the childish urge of violence and threw a paperweight he never particularly liked against the large oak doors. There were plenty of ugly paperweights like that scattered around the office. The servants probably kept a special closet for them, or used magic to fix back together the broken pieces. In the past year flying objects had become commonplace in the Malfoy household. Servants were use to hearing doors slam and then the tinkling of shattering glass. Hermione, practical as always, had even purchased several ugly but costly vases to litter her chambers with. 

Draco ran a hand through his hair at the thought of his wife. He chuckled softly at word. Wife. Hermione Granger, cleverest witch their age, was his wife. His significant other. His great sacrifice to fulfil old Dumbledore's dying wish: a bond between a muggle born witch and a pureblood wizard. Proof that times had changed and even the purest of inbred wizards could overlook genealogy in the face of love. Or the interest in placating the still anxious wizarding community. 

With a dejected sigh Draco closed the ledger on his desk. He'd never be able to concentrate with the knowledge that Hermione was rushing off to visit Ron Weasley at his dying behest. Of course he'd responded like a jealous husband: he was a jealous husband. And even before they'd married Draco had been jealous of Weasley. And of Potter, too. He'd always been jealous of the attention and devotion they'd received from Hermione. Attention and devotion neither had deserved. And now especially Weasley, the little traitor. 

Rising from his desk, Draco ran his hand through his long, ash-blonde hair again. I'm allowed to sound brooding, he reasoned, afterall, she never showed such concern about me. Not even after everything we've been through. Everything we've faced... And I never once let her down. 

Pulling open the doors to his office, Draco stalked towards the grand staircase. He could hear the loud noises Hermione made as she and her maid argued over packing. Draco allowed himself a silent laugh. His Hermione would never quite get use to being Mrs. Malfoy. The doors to Hermione's sitting room was ajar, and when he opened it further, he saw a short, blonde maid scowling and unpacking a small suitcase. Hermione stood near a bank of windows, looking distracted as she fingered a necklace she'd always refuse to let him see. He gestured to the maid to leave and quietly closed the door behind her. 

"Marissa, what's taking so long?" She snapped, turning away from the windows. Her eyes grew chilly as she saw who's replaced the servant. "Oh, it's you. What do you do?" 

"I came to get a 'good-bye' before you left." 

"I'm not in the mood for games, Draco. I just want to get packed and spend a nice long weekend away from you." 

Draco walked slowly to her side and brushed a knuckle against her cheek. "What do you think Weasley has to say that will make your trip to Azkaban worth it? Or rather, what are you really hoping he's going to say? Are you still holding out hope that he's innocent? That the past year was all a big misunderstanding? 

Hermione knocked aside his caressing hand. "I've told you before to stay out of my rooms. I don't want to deal with you right now. Especially after last night." 

"It's enough that the servants are all witnesses to our spats and temper tantrums. But do you really want them to spread gossip that we don't even get along in other...aspects of our marriage?" Draco grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away. "C'mon, Hermione, don't be a coward. You still haven't answered my question." 

"I told you last night, I have questions. Questions you can't kiss away, and questions Snape can't wave away. If we're ever going to make this work between us, I need closure. Closure only Ron can give me. I don't want to have questions. I don't want to have lingering doubts about you. Please, just let me have this weekend. Let me try to figure things out." 

A dark look passed over Draco's face. But it left as quickly as it had appeared and Hermione could only wonder at what it meant. She pulled her arm out of his grip and was mildly surprised when he let go. It was even more surprising when he simply left the room without another world. 

Hermione took a deep breath and sank into a nearby chair. I hate this, she thought. Why, oh why, couldn't it be different? Why couldn't they just forget the past? Why couldn't they just move on as if none of it had ever happened? But in her most secret hearts of hearts, Hermione admitted that it couldn't be different. Different would put her in the Weasley family rather than the Malfoy family. Different would've meant the difference between helping Harry win and dooming the world to Voldemort's evil... 

End of Part One  
---------------------- 

AUTHOR'S NOTES:  
- Thanks to the Harry Potter Lexicon, otherwise I would have no idea where the Malfoy Mansion is situated.   
- Music I listened to while typing this: "So Cold" by Breaking Benjamin.   
- Okay, I'm going to give fair warning that after this there are going to be a few chapters set in the past. And it's going to be a while (at least three chapters, two of which I haven't written as yet), until I write another chapter set in the 'present.' 

Jewel  
[7.21.2004]


	4. Part Two

Wake The Darkness  
By Jewel  
A Harry Potter Fanfiction.  
Revised Version.

**----------------------------------**

Standard spoilers apply for books 1 through 5. Set in Seventh Year to Post-Hogwarts. 

_THANK YOU, everyone, for your patience and kind feedback. As the threat of homework looms on the horizon, my Muse has perversely come back to me... So without further hold-up, I present you with the second chapter of the rewrite. Incidentally it is the first original chapter of the revision. I look forward to your feedback!_

**----------------------------------  
Wake The Darkness  
Part Two (2)**

(Summer Preceding Seventh Year.) 

In the two years that Hermione Granger had been acquainted with number twelve, Grimmauld Place, the house had never evolved beyond the dark, dank, and rotting house Hermione had walked into the summer before her Fifth Year at Hogwarts. For two years the house had remained impervious to Mrs. Weasley's frequent and insistent spells, charms, and potions. Truly the only room Molly had ever been able to salvage was the kitchen. A fact for which Hermione was thankful as she sat for breakfast in the large room. After a restless right of tossing and turning, and fits of sneezing from a sudden cold made all the worse by the dust and dampness of each room in the house, Hermione was ready to move to better accommodations. Namely her own room at Hogwarts. 

Ron was already at the table shoveling food into his mouth as quickly as he could. Upon spotting Hermione, he madly waved his toast in the air, beckoning her to sit beside him. "You've missed it, Hermione!" He exclaimed through a mouthful of food. He swallowed and began spreading more jam on his toast. "Dumbledore has just arrived and taken dad and Harry with him to the war room." 

Hermione forgot to sneeze and looked sharply at Ron. "Why didn't you come and wake me?" 

"It just happened and--" 

"Honestly, Ronald! Don't talk with your mouth full unless you want to choke!" Molly admonished from behind her son before turning to pin Hermione with a look worthy of any general. 

"You, dear, look like a skeleton, don't think for a second that you two are going to run off to eavesdrop at the door! Hermione, you're going to sit right here and eat a big, hearty breakfast." With that said, Molly began filling a plate with an array of food that quickly began to resemble a small mountain. "This will be enough for starters," the older woman proclaimed, placing the plate in front of Hermione. 

Smiling meekly, Hermione picked up a fork and began to push the food around her plate, making a pretense of wondering what to start eating. Biting her lip, Hermione cast a furtive glance at Mrs. Weasley, who had turned her attentions to the sizzling stove. Assuring herself that the woman was not looking at her, Hermione quietly rose from beside Ron and quickly slipped back up the staircase from which she had just descended. The large bit of a muffin that caught in his throat stifled Ron's cry of abandonment. 

Above stairs, Hermione silently paced outside the war room, the old formal dinning room that had been filled with maps and books and bright lights. Over the past year Hermione had grown increasingly worried over her own family. In the middle of Sixth Year, the Weasleys had moved into the Black House for security reasons. The Dursleys, Harry's family, were protected by the several witches and wizards and occasional squib, like Mrs. Figg, Dumbledore had set in the neighborhood ever since Harry had been delivered to live with his aunt. And while Harry had spent half the summer with his family, adding even more protection to them against the likely attack of Death Eaters, Hermione's muggle parents remained without protection. Although she had spent almost all of the summer preceding the Sixth Year with her parents, Hermione had decided it would be better worth her time and efforts to remain at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, this summer, devoting herself to helping the Order. But now, with Death Eaters openly taking to the streets and terrorizing wizards and muggles alike, Hermione increasingly thought it a better idea to add some kind of protection to her parents and childhood home. 

The more Hermione thought about it, the more convinced she became to ask Dumbledore how to go about shielding her family from any damage Voldemort could cause. It didn't need to be as complex or as big as a Fidelius Charm, but Hermione wanted some assurance that her parents would be safe. Of course, every time she thought to speak with the Headmaster, he was never in residence. Or he would arrive late at night for a brief while before taking off again to where ever it was these days that he dwelled. By standing outside the war room, Hermione thought, she'd be able to catch Dumbledore before he could escape. And so it was with grim determination that she waited outside the old dinning room, alternately pacing and sitting in an unstable chair beside the door. All the while sneezing, until Professor Dumbledore, Harry, Arthur Weasley, Mad-Eye Moody and, of all surprises, Severus Snape, emerged several hours later with mixed looks of anger and weariness upon their faces. 

... 

Draco Malfoy stared at his father in complete and total disgust. Lucius Malfoy lay on the floor of his opulent study, staring at the ceiling while whispering a litany of nonsense words. Narcissa had knelt graciously beside her husband and had for the last five minutes held his hand while speaking to him in low tones, trying to bring him back from his madness. 

Revolted, Draco pushed away from the doorframe he had been leaning against and stalked down the corridor to his own room. He could never stand to look at his father during Lucius's flights of fancy. One minute the two Malfoy men had been in the middle of a perfectly coherent conversation about Dementors, the next moment Lucius was staring right through Draco while mumbling nonsensical phrases in archaic languages. 

Lucius had been out of Azkaban for almost four months, but before his acquittal at trial the older Malfoy had spent ten months in the wizarding prison, tormented by the Dementors. That Lucius had made a deal with the Ministry to secure his absolution for his part in the Fifth Year attack on the Ministry had no effect on him. Although under constant guard from the Ministry, Lucius Malfoy had not stopped his secret plotting to slither back into the Dark Lord's good graces. 

And so Draco and Lucius had been in discussion about Lucius's new plan when the madness had come over him. Draco wasn't surprised by it anymore. In the past year the madness frequently overtook his father, sometimes only lasting minutes, other times for days at an end. 

Draco closed the door to his room, futile resistance against his father's growing screams of lunacy and pathetic shouts of a deranged man. Leaning his back against the elegantly carved wood of his door, Draco's gaze wondered over to his bed. From the dark counterpane gleamed a gold badge with the letters "HB." He had not even gotten around to telling his father of the honor before his father had slipped into the mental abyss. 

... 

"You're going to betray me," Harry Potter said simply and quietly to his bestfriend. 

Ron, for his part, looked completely thunderstruck. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She shut her jaw and tried again to speak, but she was speechless. There was nothing she could say in response to such a statement. 

It was late afternoon and the three friends were gathered in Harry's room. Harry leaned carelessly against his dresser, his arms crossed, while Hermione occupied his bed, her legs folded and her feet tucked neatly beneath her, and Ron sat in the only chair, almost opposite the room from Harry. 

Finally finding his voice, Ron shook his head and asked, "How could that possibly help the Order?" 

"But Ron would never betray you!" Hermione cried angrily, "Who would ever think up such a stupid idea?" 

A muscle leaped in Harry's cheek as he replied, "Snape, of course." 

Hermione went silent again, as if rethinking her assessment. But Ron quickly picked up where she had left off. "I always knew the big bat was with You-Know-Who! Of course he would come up with such a--" 

"Wait, Ron," Hermione instructed, before turning to Harry. "Why would Snape suggest that?" 

Sighing, Harry came to sit on the edge of his bed and angled himself to look at his two bestfriends. "We were discussing the possible advantages to having another spy in addition to Snape. He seems to think Ron would be the "ideal candidate;" his words not mine. Something about Ron being like Wormtail, which is complete garbage. But I told Dumbledore I would ask you guys about it." 

"Of course I'm not like Wormtail!" Ron said vehemently. "I would never betray my friends!" 

"It might be worth some consideration," Hermione said quietly, surprising the boys. She quickly hurried to explain herself. "It would be much more plausible for Ron to join Voldemort than me or even Neville. Or anyone else from the Order, for that matter." 

"And what does that mean?" Ron all but growled. 

Hermione had the grace to blush as she replied, "It's just that -- Well -- That is, to say -- Oh, Ron, don't look at me like that! I know you'd never betray Harry, but in some ways Voldemort might see you as Wormtail. Always in the shadow of your friends, waiting for your own glory..." 

"That's pretty much what Snape said," Harry intoned. 

A minute of silence followed before Ron seemed to resign himself to what had been said. "Okay, say that I pretend to betray you. Why would I do it after six years of loyalty?" 

Harry glanced away sheepishly. "Hermione. Her, ah, affections would shift and it would be the proverbial last straw." 

Ron looked at Hermione and then at Harry. "I'm going to need some time to think about this." 

As Ron rose to leave, Hermione quickly sprang from the bed and effectively placed herself before the door. "If you and Harry are willing to do this, then I guess my part is small enough. It's just that... I know it seems a simple matter now, you pretending to betray Harry... but both of you might want to consider what Dumbledore and Snape are getting you into. And if you both agree to this, then I think you should both sit down and discuss what this will mean. Over the next year, your friendship is going to change, and you will need to understand the difference between what's real and what you see." 

Having said all she needed to say, Hermione slipped out the door and shut it behind her, leaving the two boys to talk. Any thoughts of speaking with Dumbledore had effectively been pushed from her thoughts, so Hermione went to her own room, her mind already swirling with plans and ideas and possible complications. 

:End of Part Two:  
----------------------  
AUTHOR'S NOTES:  
- A big THANK YOU to everyone who gave feedback. Your reviews and e-mails were encouraging. And I would also like to thank everyone for their patience with me. This is the first original chapter of the rewrite and I wanted to make it good. Hopefully I succeeded. School for me is starting back this week, but don't think that means less frequent updates. If anything my habit of procrastinating when it comes to writing papers for my classes means that I will be turning out more chapters in the months to come.  
- Music I listened to while typing this: "A Flavor House Atlantic" by Coheed and Cambria.  
- Again, thanks for your patience, it's greatly appreciated. The next chapter will also be original to the rewrite and set in the past, so please allow time for me to make it as good as possible for you guys. I look forward to hearing your opinions on this chapter: your reactions will effect the style and tone of the future chapters. 

**Jewel,** (9.12.2004)


End file.
